SARANAC LAKE — The village board dug down on Monday into the details of how the loans the village could take out for the proposed public safety building at 33 Petrova Ave. might impact village taxpayers. They set tentative limits on what they feel comfortable borrowing for the project and asked village Manager Bachana Tsiklauri to go back and get more tax impact data for their Dec. 22 meeting.

The plan to remodel and combine the emergency departments at the former St. Pius X High School has been contentious among neighbors and others in the community, who from the beginning have opposed the size, cost and location of the building.

The combined complex for Saranac Lake’s fire, rescue and police departments was estimated to cost $27.5 million several years ago, but will likely cost more now due to inflation.

The village currently has a down payment of up to $8 million in grant money and saved-up fund money to put toward that cost, and would then pay off the rest over a long period of time through loans called bonds. If the project went out to bid today, the village would need to take out a loan of more than $19 million.

The analysis by Fiscal Advisors and Marketing Inc. includes a range of potential loans in increments of $5 million — from $5 million to $30 million — either for 30 years with an interest rate of 4.5% or 25 years with an interest rate of 4.35%. There’s less of an annual budget and tax rate impact with a 30-year loan, but the overall cost would be higher because of the higher interest rate. There’s less overall cost with a 25-year loan, but a higher annual impact.

Looking at the impact each loan could have on taxpayers, trustees agreed they felt comfortable with taking out $5 million to $10 million. Any more than that would have an impact on taxpayers they felt would be too high.

If the village took a $5 million loan, it would correlate to an approximate tax increase of $250 per year for a home assessed at $300,000. If the village took a $15 million loan, it would correlate to around $750 per year. If it took a $30 million loan, it would correlate to around $1,500 per year.

Mayor Jimmy Williams has previously said he is “100% confident” the village will get more state and federal grants. Some, he said, cannot be applied for until the village has more plans drawn up.

A lot of details are still up in the air. The final estimated cost of the proposed project, how much the project could get in grants, how much the village would need to bond for and what the interest rates will be when the loans are taken out is all unknown. Williams said they’ll probably have a new estimate for the total cost by the end of January.

After several meetings with tension on the board over this issue, Trustee Matt Scollin said he felt the discussion on Monday was “productive.” Trustees did not agree on many details, but they found where they do agree, found where they disagree and set up plans to get more information and to set limits for themselves.

“Do we want to sing ‘Kumbaya,’ or save that for executive session?” Scollin asked toward the end of the discussion.

Williams said they’d save it for executive session.

Asked on Wednesday if they did sing in executive session, Scollin said whatever happens in executive session has to stay in executive session.

Trustee Aurora White said the village has been spending money on studies, property and designs for the project that hasn’t amounted to anything yet, and residents are worried about how much the project will end up costing them.

“That’s where the village gets nervous, is that we’ve spent over $800,000 and they don’t have a commitment on how much we’re willing to spend,” White said.

Williams said the village won’t go out to bid without getting more grants. Still, White is concerned that the board has been spending money on a project they haven’t officially approved yet.

She said people want to know where the board’s limits are — how much they’re willing to borrow to build the complex — because those decisions impact their lives. Right now, White said residents see the large final cost and hear that the village will find more money, maybe, but they worry the project could make their property taxes unaffordable.

Village resident Ellen Yousey voiced some of these concerns. She wondered if a larger loan would push the village budget over the state imposed tax cap, which limits how much the town can increase its draw from taxpayers from year to year and requires a board vote to override. Yousey said the village has a housing affordability problem.

“Increasing taxes on landowners, landlords, it’s going to increase renters’ costs and everybody’s cost of living,” she said.

Williams said they do not want to go over the tax cap or price out families.

“We’re not going to pass, as a board, something that cripples Saranac Lake, just to get it done,” Williams said. “I don’t think anybody at this table thinks that we’re going to go out to bid. And anybody from the public who thinks that’s going to happen, they’re mistaken.”

Williams said the more designs and studies they have, the more competitive the village gets with grants. Granting agencies want to see more “shovel-ready” projects.

White said they would almost immediately go over the tax cap even on lower loan amounts.

The village could pass some of the expenses on to the towns that contract with the village for fire protection. White said this could reduce the burden on the village and spread it out over the entire fire district. But towns can also choose to shop around for fire contracts, though.

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‘A gift’

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White said the report does not have a true analysis of the tax impact. It’s missing several details which would let individual homeowners see what the impact would be on their taxes, let the board know the long-term impact of operating the facility and let the village know its financing options.

“I think I would agree with Trustee White,” Scollin said.

He said this report was not an analysis, but a great “starting point.” He said it lets them find where their limits are for taking out loans. Now, they have better idea of what they can’t do and can figure out how much they can afford to spend.

Tsiklauri said this report isn’t the final product requested by the resolution calling for the analysis from the spring. More work and more information will be needed to meet that resolution.

White did her own math in a spreadsheet to fill in some of the blanks.

All the trustees said they trust Tsiklauri to work out this information. He said he’ll have that data ready for the board’s meeting before Christmas as “a gift.”

Scollin said Tsiklauri and White could compare and contrast their analyses, too.

The board agreed to have Tsiklauri go back to the numbers and bring them a more detailed report including the tax impact at several different home values, the impact on the different town tax rates, the annual cost of operations and maintenance of the building and a range of fees and financing options, including which are included in the tax cap or not.

To Scollin, a loan of $5 million to $10 million is acceptable. Up to $15 million felt like it would have too much impact on taxpayers. Other trustees generally agreed.

The board agreed to have Tsiklauri do further study on these three loan amounts.

Trustees Kelly Brunette and White voiced frustration that they cannot directly ask questions of the architecture firm Wendel Architecture, Engineering, Surveying and Landscape Architecture, which is designing the project, but have to go through Tsiklauri as a contact point first.

Representatives from Wendel were said to be planning to attend the next village meeting on Dec. 8.

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Split opinion

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Brunette found the tax impact “unaffordable,” saying the village needs to find “alternatives” to the current plan to make it feasible.

Williams said he disagreed with completely changing the plan “100%.” He said they have to get this done. The project to get the departments better homes has been put off for 40 years, he said, and the current headquarters are in disarray and are unacceptable.

Brunette said the board needs to face the hard facts and change the scope and size of the project.

Members of the board have said several times that the project will be very expensive, no matter what, due to high building costs.

The village is looking at other big projects — including a $40 million project for water and sewer upgrades. Williams said they’re taking the same approach to these projects, and added that the public isn’t concerned about those like it is about the public safety building.

Brunette does not agree with the 2023 feasibility report assessment that remodeling the former school will save millions of dollars, compared to building three new separate or combined facilities.

White believes these numbers showing the savings are skewed because they’re based on building three buildings of the size needed to fit the school. She believes they can do three “appropriately sized” buildings.

She also felt the designs for the combined complex do not have the departments sharing enough space, saying that it’s essentially three buildings that happen to be attached.

Mark Wilson, a neighbor of 33 Petrova and a critic of the project, said Saranac Lake’s population is not growing. He wondered if the village can continue to afford the project as presented. He said the cost to maintain and operate the new building will have a huge impact on every village budget moving forward.

Tsiklauri mentioned that having one complex instead of three buildings will also consolidate the maintenance budgets of three departments into one.

Williams believes that, cumulatively, the annual operation and maintenance costs for this planned new facility could be less than the current three separate buildings would cost over that time span. A new building will be much more energy efficient and have fewer repairs, he said.

Village resident Tammara Van Ryn thanked the board for a good conversation on the issue. She feels there are many issues at 33 Petrova like mold and lead, which will drive the cost up, that it would be more worth it to do a building half the size of what’s planned there, which could happen sooner and more affordably.

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The numbers

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If the village takes out a $5 million loan for 30 years with the higher interest rate, that would have a $311,034 impact on the annual budget for 30 years. The village would end up paying $8,983,950 in total.

This would increase the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value by $0.81. For a home assessed at $300,000, this would be a tax increase of $243.60 per year.

If the $5 million loan was taken out for the 25-year option with the lower interest rate, it would have a $340,490 impact on the annual budget for 25 years. The village would end up paying $8,126,260 in total.

This would increase the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value by $0.89. For a home assessed at $300,000, this would be a tax increase of $265.80 per year.

If the village takes out a $15 million loan for 30 years with the higher interest rate, that would have a $933,905 impact on the annual budget for 30 years. The village would end up paying $26,974,350 in total.

This would increase the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value by $2.44. For a home assessed at $300,000, this would be a tax increase of $731.40 per year.

If the $15 million loan was taken out for the 25-year option with the lower interest rate, it would have a $1,021,997 impact on the annual budget for 25 years. The village would end up paying $24,385,940 in total.

This would increase the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value by $2.67. For a home assessed at $300,000, this would be a tax increase of $800.40 per year.

If the village takes out a $30 million loan for 30 years with the higher interest rate, that would have a $1,867,666 impact on the annual budget for 30 years. The village would end up paying $53,944,650 in total.

This would increase the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value by $4.88. For a home assessed at $300,000, this would be a tax increase of $1,464 per year.

If the $30 million loan was taken out for the 25-year option with the lower interest rate, it would have a $2,043,787 impact on the annual budget for 25 years. The village would end up paying $48,767,095 in total.

This would increase the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value by $5.34. For a home assessed at $300,000, this would be a tax increase of $1,600.50 per year.

The full analysis can be found at tinyurl.com/y2nn7vcv.

The state limits the amount of debt municipalities can carry to 7% of the combined full valuation of its taxable properties. For Saranac Lake, that cap is around $25.4 million. If the village takes out the majority of that debt for the EMS building project, opponents say this would leave the village with less credit for other projects and a large bond. Even if it’s paid for over many years, this could increase property taxes and strain other departments, opponents say.

Size

The building proposed at 33 Petrova has had a rough floor plan of almost 69,000 square feet, though that is likely to change.

Leadership at the fire, rescue and police departments has been working with the architectural consultants to cut down the footprint of the building by around 10,000 square feet, removing anything that was not determined to be essential, according to Williams.

Because the building is the former St. Pius X High School, they are working with a set footprint of a high school, adapting it to fit three emergency service departments.

The plans for the project were first announced in 2023. The village purchased the land at 33 Petrova from Citizen Advocates in January 2024 for $350,000. Currently, the fire and rescue departments are at 100 Broadway and the police station is at the former Army National Guard armory on state Route 3.

The police are at the armory through an agreement with the state — not a lease, per se — which was done temporarily to make room at the department’s former 1-3 Main St. building for a potential move of the Adirondack Park Agency headquarters from Ray Brook to that building in downtown Saranac Lake. There’s been debate over whether the state would or could let the police stay at the armory permanently.

Currently, the Petrova building is sized at having a 38,890-square-foot first floor with a 24,235-square-foot crawl space. Initial plans called for around 30,000 square feet of garage additions.

The three departments currently take up 17,746 square feet in their separate locations. The consultants put the estimated space needed for the three departments in the next 20 years — to improve their current situations and be prepared for the future of emergency response — at 67,000 square feet. The building proposed at 33 Petrova has had a rough floor plan of almost 69,000 square feet, though that is likely to change.

The plans show 18 dorm rooms for firefighters, drivers and EMS; 17 toilets and three kitchens.

Some on the board say the St. Pius X location is the only place in the village to fit the emergency services departments. Their consultants tell them it’s not feasible for the departments to grow in their existing locations, and department leaders agree.

Last summer, the village board approved a $340,000 contract with Wendel for design work as part of a broader $1.78 million contract.